Chamber Pieces

Like curling up with a good book, there’s something deliciously seductive about chamber piece films. Sometimes cited as Chamber Dramas. They usually involve a small number of characters ‘Sleuth’ just two, ‘Buried’ only one. Mainly set at one or two locations, over a limited period of time, the closeted settings give the films an especially intimate feel, as if it’s just you and the characters in on the same joke, or that you the audience have been invited to a very exclusive party with a superior view of all that’s going on. They can provide one of the most rewarding and fun detours for film audiences, commonly derived from plays, ‘Death and the Maiden’, ‘Who’s Afraid of a Virginia Woolf’ and often with either a wildly inventive or dark and diabolical trick at their hearts, ‘Rope’, ‘Dogville’. Dialogue, plot and the actors’ performances are intrinsic to their success. However they’re also, for obvious reasons, the darling of the low budget and microbudget filmmaker, ‘Festen’, ‘Cube’, ‘Tape’. We’re big advocators of their tight structures at the BFA and the World Film Showcase, three of our forthcoming original content films could be considered chamber pieces; ‘Drowning Room Only’ ‘The Blood of an Englishman’ and ‘Misadventure’. And we have a film belief that filmmakers should embrace their restrictions and relish them for the creatively vitalising, subversive and daring stories they inspire.

The Breakfast Club

Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal (Paul Gleason). The disparate group includes rebel John (Judd Nelson), princess Claire (Molly Ringwald), outcast Allison (Ally Sheedy), brainy Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) and Andrew (Emilio Estevez), the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.